Napa State Hospital psychiatric worker slain

NAPA Mentally ill patient placed under arrest

Published 4:00 am, Monday, October 25, 2010

A mentally ill patient with a long criminal history was arrested Sunday morning on charges that he robbed and killed a veteran employee at Napa State Hospital.

The body of Donna Gross, a 54-year-old psychiatric technician from Concord who had worked at the hospital for 14 years, was found at 6:10 p.m. Saturday in a courtyard on the grounds. The staff became concerned when she failed to return to her unit from a dinner break.

Jess Willard Massey, 37, allegedly confronted Gross while the two walked on a well-traveled path used by staff and patients.

"He wanted money from her," said Capt. Tracey Stuart of the Napa County Sheriff's Office, which is investigating the case.

Massey has been in the state hospital system since 1993, after facing charges in Sacramento County including robbery, assault and attempted murder, records shows.

Stuart said the suspect, who is being held without bail at the Napa County Jail, had been declared legally insane by the courts.

The killing unleashed a firestorm from Gross' colleagues, who for years have complained that the hospital, which is overseen by the state Department of Mental Health, is unsafe.

For more than a decade, the hospital has drawn scrutiny and criticism not only from workers, but also from patients' families and even the U.S. Department of Justice.

"You're constantly living in fear for your life," said one registered nurse who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "You have to have eyes in the back of your head and always be looking for an exit."

Staff members said that accused and convicted murderers, rapists and child molesters - whom the courts have found to be either mentally unfit to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity - are free to roam the 138-acre campus and congregate in large groups.

"The majority of the staff has been assaulted," another worker said. "We had one situation where an employee was choked out and threatened with rape and another where a nurse's head was split open. You walk in every day and wonder, 'Is today going to be my day?'

"This is a correctional facility," the employee continued, "and it needs to have the same kind of security as a prison. But it doesn't."

Hospital officials say they have made efforts to reduce patient aggression by enhancing treatment, monitoring all facilities and removing any materials that could be used as weapons.

"The hospital's top priority is the safety of its employees and patients," spokeswoman Deborah Moore wrote in an e-mail to The Chronicle. "Recently, the hospital has implemented safety measures such as rounds on grounds, community policing and work groups that address incidences as they arise to further reduce aggressive incidents."

Workers, though, argue that hospital police officers are headquartered too far from medical units, prompting long response times. Other than a panic button worn on their belts that works only inside the main building, staff members have little with which to protect themselves, one employee said.

And there are too few employees to manage the facility, which averages 1,150 patients at a time, others said.

"Typically, there are six medical workers taking care of 46 people," a staff member said.

A 2001 Chronicle investigation raised questions about the hospital's quality of care and safety. The article described an overwhelmed staff that was ill equipped to deal with the influx of violent criminals sent by the courts to the minimum- to medium-security facility.

Four years later, a Department of Justice investigation found "widespread and systemic deficiencies," primarily in patient conditions, at the hospital.

In response, the state reached a consent decree with the Justice Department that requires reviews twice a year "to insure that patients are protected adequately from harm," according to a 2009 report by the California state auditor.

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.